MBMC panel probes cause

Citizens stare at more such disasters due to govt apathy

As the six member committee of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) probes the multiple LPG cylinder blast incident which rocked Mira Road on February 8, citizens living in various residential pockets of the twin-city continue to stare at similar disasters due to the apathy of concerned government agencies.

Deafening explosions awoke residents after a massive blaze broke out in LPGcylinder laden trucks which were parked in an open ground amidst a cluster of buildings in the Ram Nagar area of Mira Road. The filled LPG cylinders were loaded in unguarded trucks.

Soon after the incident, a six-member committee comprising- Executive EngineerDeepak Khambit, Ward Officer- Swapnil Sawant, Fire officer- Dr. Prakash Borade, Surveyor- Sunil Mhatre, license officer-Avinash Sawant and headed by additional commissioner- Dilip Dhole was constituted to probe the incident, sans representative from the police department which immediately launched an offence and booked four people including the LPG distributor, truck drivers and the land owner.

However, round-the-clock loading and unloading activities from trucks to delivery tri-cycles carts have been reported from public roads located in densely populated areas. Some roadside corners have been turned into temporary shelters to leave back hundreds of chained cylinders, thus posing a grave danger of explosions. One such makeshift shelter is located on the road outside a pre-primary school in Bhayandar (W).

“The probe is into its advanced stages and a final meeting has been called on Friday to submit the findings which are not only restricted to that particular incident but to chalk out a roadmap to ensure such incidents are averted,“revealed a panel member.